Not a lot of changes from last week’s chart, with the top four songs remaining in place. “Don’t Bring Me Down” by my favorite artist Two Feet is #1 for a fourth week, while Adele’s “Easy On Me” is #2 for a third week. Entering the top 10 are Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”, which jumps 12 spots from #19 to #7 (the song fell from #1 to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100), and Kacey Musgraves’ “Justified”, which nods at #10. The two new debut songs this week are both by British bands: “U&ME” by alt-J, which enters at #29, and “One and the Same” by Future Theory, which enters at #30.
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (1) 4th week at #1
EASY ON ME – Adele (2)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (3)
BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (4)
I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs ft. Lucius (7)
LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (8)
ALL TOO WELL (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift (19)
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (6)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (5)
JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (12)
LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (13)
GOOD FRIEND – dwi (14)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (11)
Two Feet maintains a firm grip on the #1 spot for a third week with his darkly beautiful and brooding “Don’t Bring Me Down”, while Adele’s poignant “Easy on Me” holds at #2 for a second week. Glass Animals climb two spots to third place with their buoyant “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)”, and My Morning Jacket’s “Love Love Love” enters the top 10 at #8.
As we enter the final month of 2021, a whopping six new songs (well, five new and one refashioned) debut this week. Taylor Swift’s epic 10 minute and 13 seconds long “All Too Well” – which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – enters my chart at #19 (I’m old school about music charts, and have a problem with songs debuting at #1). The five other new entries are “I See the Sun” by British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes, “Two Car Family” by British electro-rock band Apollo Junction, “Left Behind” by Chicago post-punk band a million rich daughters, “Kaleidoscope” by Tacoma psychedelic power pop artist Soda Cracker Jesus, and the enchanting “Journeyman’s Ballet” by Brooklyn singer-songwriter Sam Rappaport.
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (1)
EASY ON ME – Adele (2)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (5)
BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (6)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (3)
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (4)
I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs ft. Lucius (10)
LOVE LOVE LOVE – My Morning Jacket (11)
CAN YOU HANDLE MY LOVE?? – WALK THE MOON (8)
MINE FOREVER – Lord Huron (7)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (9)
JUSTIFIED – Kacey Musgraves (14)
LOVE IN OCTOBER – Ships Have Sailed (15)
GOOD FRIEND – dwi (16)
COLORADO – Milky Chance (13)
WRECKED – Imagine Dragons (12)
STARTS WITH YOU – Shimmer Johnson (19)
TIME IN DISGUISE – Kings of Leon (24)
ALL TOO WELL (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift (N)
Not a lot of changes from last week’s list. Two Feet remains on top for a second week with his smoldering gem “Don’t Bring Me Down”, while Adele’s heartstrings-tugging “Easy on Me” climbs two spots to #2. The War on Drugs enter the top 10 with “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” and Band of Horses are the lone debut this week with “Crutch”, their first new music in five years.
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (1)
EASY ON ME – Adele (4)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (3)
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (2)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (6)
BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (10)
MINE FOREVER – Lord Huron (5)
CAN YOU HANDLE MY LOVE?? – WALK THE MOON (8)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (9)
I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs ft. Lucius (11)
It was inevitable that Two Feet’s darkly beautiful and mesmerizing “Don’t Bring Me Down” would ascend to the top of my Weekly Top 30. It’s his 4th song to reach #1 on my chart this year, and his 8th in total, beginning with his monster hit “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” in the summer of 2018. He’s one of the finest guitarists around today, with a soulful and sultry music style unlike anyone else, and highlighted by bluesy guitar work and deep floor-rattling bass grooves. I love every single recording he’s released, and have seen him perform live twice, in November 2018 and again this past May. He engages regularly with his followers on social media, which has earned him an incredibly loyal and passionate base of fans, me included. I deeply love and respect this man as both a musician and human, and he’s my favorite artist in the world right now.
In other chart highlights this week, Roadkeeper’s politically relevant “Take the L” moves up to #3, followed by Adele’s heartfelt “Easy on Me”. Glass Animals’ delightful “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” moves up a notch to #6, and Måneskin’s saucy “Beggin'” enters the top 10. Leaping 10 spots each are The War on Drugs’ “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” and My Morning Jacket’s ebullient “Love Love Love”, which climb to #11 and #12, respectively. Debuting this week are “Time in Disguise” by Kings of Leon, “Smile” by Wolf Alice and “The Tipping Point” by the legendary Tears For Fears.
Fun fact: In addition to Two Feet, I’ve also seen three other acts on this list in concert: twenty øne piløts, Coldplay and Tears For Fears.
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (2)
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (1)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (4)
EASY ON ME – Adele (6)
MINE FOREVER – Lord Huron (3)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (7)
WRECKED – Imagine Dragons (5)
CAN YOU HANDLE MY LOVE?? – WALK THE MOON (8)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (10)
BEGGIN’ – Måneskin (12)
I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – The War on Drugs ft. Lucius (21)
After a three-week run on top with “Mine Forever”, Lord Huron have been supplanted by British indie pop-rock band The Zangwills, whose gorgeous and cinematic “Never Looked Back” takes over the #1 spot. I featured them and their song a few months ago, and immediately recognized it as a future number-one hit. They’re definitely a band with a bright future if they continue putting out such quality music.
Closing in fast is my favorite artist Two Feet, with his smoldering “Don’t Bring Me Down” rising three spots to #2. Texas alt-rock band Roadkeeper holds at #4 with their politically-charged “Take the L”, and Adele’s poignant “Easy on Me” is #6 for a second week. The lone entry into the top 10 this week is “Survivor” by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. Canadian rockers Bealby Point continue their climb up my chart with “Talk to Me”. The Strokes-esque gem with a killer bassline lands at #14 this week. The War on Drugs’ beautiful “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” debuts at #21, while silky-voiced Australian singer-songwriter G. Samedi enters at #30 with his sensual track “Rearview”.
NEVER LOOKED BACK – The Zangwills (3)
DON’T BRING ME DOWN – Two Feet (5)
MINE FOREVER – Lord Huron (1)
TAKE THE L – Roadkeeper (4)
WRECKED – Imagine Dragons (2)
EASY ON ME – Adele (6)
I DON’T WANNA TALK (I JUST WANNA DANCE) – Glass Animals (8)
CAN YOU HANDLE MY LOVE?? – WALK THE MOON (10)
DISTORTED LIGHT BEAM – Bastille (9)
SURVIVOR – Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (16)
I just love Lord Huron’s music, and their beautiful “Mine Forever” remains at the pinnacle of my Weekly Top 30 for a 3rd week. Imagine Dragons’ “Wrecked” and The Zangwills’ “Never Looked Back” hold at #2 and #3, and Roadkeeper’s “Take the L” climbs a notch to #4. Four songs enter the top 10 this week: Two Feet’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” and Adele’s “Easy on Me”, both of which leap nine spots to #5 and #6, respectively, Glass Animals “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” and WALK THE MOON’s “Can You Handle My Love??” The jolting and raw “Survivor” by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats took a while to grow on me but now I love it, and it jumps eight spots to #16. Debuting this week are three great new songs: “Love Love Love” by My Morning Jacket, “Good Friend” by dwi, and “Starts With You” by Shimmer Johnson.
It’s been a while since my last installment of Fresh New Tracks, and truth be told, I’ve been rather hesitant to do more of these posts, as I suspect a lot of artists don’t appreciate sharing the limelight with others. That said, there’s just so much great music being released nearly every day, and my time to write posts and reviews is limited, so combine them I must.
For my latest installment, I’ve chosen new singles by three of my favorite indie artists, all prolific musicians who possess really beautiful singing voices – Australian singer-songwriter G. Samedi, American singer-songwriter The Frontier, and Canadian-American singer-songwriter Shimmer Johnson. I’ve previously featured each of them on this blog numerous times, and love their new songs so much that I have to share them.
“Rearview” by G. Samedi
Sam looking cool as always
G. Samedi is the music project of Sam Dawes, a remarkably talented and dangerously charismatic singer-songwriter from Sydney, Australia. He’s also lead vocalist and songwriter for the wonderful soul/funk/jazz/pop band Thunder Fox, who I’ve written about several times as well. He has a distinctive soulful and silky vocal style that effortlessly glides from smooth, sultry croons to a plaintive falsetto and back again. Drawing from R&B, soul, trip hop, electronic and alternative rock elements, Sam creates moody and sensuous soundscapes for the expression of his bold lyrics addressing the darker and more introspective aspects of love and relationships. He writes all his own music and lyrics, records and programs all instruments, sings all vocals, and produces and mixes all tracks. The only think he outsources is the mastering.
While still actively involved with Thunder Fox, who will be releasing their second album next month, Sam began recording and producing some of his songs as a solo artist in early 2020. In less than two years, he’s released an astonishing 10 singles, one of which, “Icarus”, I reviewed this past May. His latest is “Rearview”, which dropped October 16th, and it’s another stunning & dreamy track. I love all the colorful instruments and sounds he incorporates into the song, highlighted by sparkling synths, enchanting organ, and a mix of shimmery and gnarly guitar notes. As always, his layered vocals are smooth, sensuous and incredibly emotive.
Jake sharing a moment with his trusty sidekick Atlas
Regular readers of this blog know I’m a huge fan of The Frontier – aka Jake Mimikos, who’s based in Fairfax County, Virginia. Jake is an enormously talented guy with a kindness and sense of humor to match, and I’m quite fond of him both as an artist and human. Since 2015, he’s released an impressive amount of music both as a solo artist and as a band under The Frontier moniker, and we’ve been following each other on social media for nearly that long. Drawing upon elements of pop, folk, rock and electronica, his music is always incredibly pleasing and flawlessly crafted. As with many singer-songwriters, Jake’s songs are often inspired by personal experiences, and deal with love, relationships and loss. He prefers to write lyrics that are honest and straightforward, as if he were having a conversation with a friend. I’ve loved all of his songs, and have featured several on this blog, most recently “Shattered”, which I reviewed this past July. Two of his singles, “Dark Places” (from 2019) and “Can We Go Back” (from earlier this year) reached #1 on my Weekly Top 30, while “Sleep” (released in late 2020) reached #2.
On October 15th, he dropped his latest single “On the Other Side”, a beautiful song with heartfelt lyrics directed at a former romantic partner that’s hurt him, and who he now wants to try and get over: “Gotta get my head right, gotta get you out of my mind. Tell me what it feels like on the other side.” About the song, Jake told the blog Cool Top 20 “The music for this song came to me, oddly enough, when I was creating a video on Tik Tok. At the time, I was just messing around and posting little videos of me playing with my looper pedal. One of the loops I created had this really cool lead part over this simple progression. When I heard it I knew instantly I wanted to develop it a bit more and turn it into a song. You can hear the lead guitar part over most of the song in the background. It’s really simple, but to me it was the coolest thing hearing it come together.” It sounds very cool indeed Jake!
Let’s kick the mood into high gear with a hot new dance-pop song, “Starts with You” by Shimmer Johnson. Originally from Edmonton, Canada and now based in Los Angeles, Shimmer has an incredibly beautiful and resonant singing voice. Her clear, pitch-perfect vocals are strong, but with a raw vulnerability that beautifully conveys the subtle yet powerful emotions expressed in her heartfelt lyrics, enabling us to connect with her songs on a deeply personal level. In addition to her amazing vocal talents, she’s also a fine guitarist and pianist, and has collaborated with several songwriters and producers to create an impressive repertoire of outstanding songs over the past few years. She started out singing Country songs, but eventually transitioned to a more adult contemporary pop sound.
I’ve featured Shimmer several times on this blog, most recently this past June when I reviewed her powerfully moving single “It’s Fate’s Turn”. Her latest single “Starts with You”, released on October 15th, sees her venture into dance-pop, and I absolutely love it! Co-written by Shimmer, her husband Corey, and Ted Perlman, the song features an infectiously upbeat dance groove guaranteed to have even the biggest wallflowers on their feet and swaying their hips. It’s essentially a song of love that starts off with the singer feeling a bit unsure about her new lover’s intentions: “All alone feeling emptiness. She’s leaving. He won’t see me. What I need, I can’t breathe” but ends up with her feeling happy and secure: “He does see me. What I need to be free (Feel this moment). He helps me see all the things I can be.” I love the funky little Nile Rodgers-like guitar riff and Shimmer’s smooth, breezy vocals. It’s a great track that’s already one of my favorites of her many songs, and I’m certain it will be a hit.
I first learned about silky-voiced singer/songwriter Shimmer Johnson in early 2018, when she followed me on Twitter. She has a beautiful and resonant singing voice that puts her in the company of other contemporary female vocalists like P!nk, Kelly Clarkson and Sara Bareilles. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, she started out writing and recording Country songs, but wanting to broaden her musical horizons, a few years ago she relocated to Los Angeles. In addition to her amazing vocal talents, she’s also a fine guitarist and pianist, and has been working with several songwriters and producers. In the process, she’s recorded and released an impressive repertoire of stellar songs.
Shimmer creates and sings lovely and compelling songs about life and love that we can all relate to. Her clear, pitch-perfect vocals are strong, but with a raw vulnerability that she skillfully employs to beautifully convey the subtle yet powerful emotions expressed in her heartfelt lyrics, enabling us to connect with her songs on a deeply personal level. Her 2017 single “Pride” has been streamed more than 239,000 times on Spotify, while her gorgeous 2020 single “Never Be the Same” has garnered 100,000 streams. I first featured her on this blog in February 2018 when I reviewed her uplifting single “Getaway”, and this past January, I featured her single “Love is Possible“ on one of my Fresh New Tracks posts. She followed that single in February with her exquisite debut album Inner Me, and now returns with her latest single “It’s Fate’s Turn“. The song was co-written with Thornton Douglas Cline and her husband Corey, and released via Catalyst Records.
On this track, Shimmer’s vocals sound more emotional and fragile than on many of her previous songs. She sings with a trembling vibrato that quite effectively conveys a sense of both apprehension and firm resolve as she dips her toe into uncertain waters, hoping that this time things will work out. Musically, the song has a languid, hauntingly beautiful melody that’s driven forward by the wonderful interplay between emotive piano keys and shimmery guitars, complementing each other quite nicely in the creation of an enchanting soundscape for Shimmer’s bewitching vocals.
The lyrics speak of never giving up on finding happiness and fulfillment in life, no matter how many roadblocks you’ve encountered and missteps you’ve experienced along the way: “I felt defeated, over and over again. I felt cheated, how would I ever win? Life is hard, when easy becomes the game. Take a spin to bet on a chance of change. You can be wrong a thousand times. Then suddenly, everything’s right. It’s fate’s turn. Don’t turn off the lights. Lessons learned. My lining is in sight. Cause this time it’s real. No one tells me how I feel.”
“It’s Fate’s Turn” is another in an unbroken string of superb singles by this incredibly talented vocalist. I’m confident we’ll continue to hear more great music from Shimmer well into the future.
To learn more about Shimmer and her music, check out her Website
It’s been a while since I last posted the first of what was supposed to be a weekly, or at least occasional, digest of newly-released singles, but as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Now that the holiday season is behind us and we’re well into a new year, lots of new music is being released, far more than I can keep up with! This week I’m featuring three new releases by (in alphabetical order) Neil and Adam, Shimmer Johnson and Zero Azimuth.
“Bright Light” by Neil and Adam
Neil and Adam are singer/songwriters Neil McCloskey and Adam Hilligardt, who hail from suburban St. Louis, Missouri (where I lived from 1995-2011). Friends since high school, the duo have been making pleasing and melodic folk/pop/rock music on and off for several years. They were one of the earliest acts I featured on this blog, back in August 2016 when I reviewed their beautiful uplifting single “Everything is Alright”. They followed up with a couple more singles after that, and have just released “Bright Light“. It’s their first new single in three and a half years, and it’s great to have them back.
In their own words, “Bright Light” is a “powerful and heartfelt love song that touches on the struggles of intense feelings and emotions.” Over an infectious toe-tapping beat, the guys layer a mix of strummed acoustic and chiming electric guitar notes over Adam’s warm keyboards and sparkling synths, creating a lovely backdrop for Neil’s wonderful plaintive vocals. He implores to a loved one of the depths of his feelings, feeling frustrated by her unwillingness or inability to open herself up to love: “Scared of the bright light that’s burning in your heart / Waiting for the fist fight that rages in your heart.”
Singer/songwriter Shimmer Johnson has such a uniquely beautiful singing voice that it’s puzzling to me she has not yet become a major star – though her 2017 single “Pride” has been streamed more than 239,000 times on Spotify. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, she started out writing and recording Country songs, but wanting to broaden her musical horizons and take advantage of her amazing vocal talents, she relocated to Los Angeles a few years ago, and has been working with songwriters such as Michael Jay, John West, Richard Bergman and Relik Gregos. A fine guitarist and pianist, Shimmer writes and sings compelling and lovely songs about life and love that we can all relate to. Her clear, pitch-perfect vocals skillfully convey the subtle yet powerful emotions expressed in her heartfelt lyrics, allowing us to connect with her songs on a deeply personal level.
I first featured her on this blog three years ago in February 2018 when I reviewed her single “Getaway”, and am now pleased to feature her latest single “Love is Possible“, which dropped January 5th. It’s a beautiful and hopeful pop ballad about the healing power of love. Shimmer’s silky vocals are comforting as she earnestly croons to a loved one that their love will endure through good times and bad: “I’d rather be safe and one with you than by myself. Two hearts as one they beat, I’m not by myself. Just a leap of faith in the stormy days, love is possible.” It’s a wonderful track.
Zero Azimuth is a young artist I’ve been following for a while who’s just released a great new single “Go With the Flow“. I don’t know a whole lot about him, other than that he’s an affable singer-songwriter named Adam from Columbus, Ohio who makes pretty good music that incorporates elements of alternative, indie rock and grunge. He released quite a bit of music in 2017, including two EPs Ex Post Facto and Quaint, as well as several singles, then went quiet for a couple years before returning in May 2020 with his terrific single “Same Evil”.
On January 4th, he dropped his latest single “Go With the Flow”, a song about trying to not let others’ indifference get the best of him. He starts off feeling a bit sorry for himself with the humorous lyrics “Oh hey there pretty baby, would you like to come over? I’m taking a bath, how ’bout you throw in a toaster.” But he eventually comes to a sober sense of resignation that he’s every bit as worthy a person as they are: “No one wants me. I’ll work on myself and give you all a goodbye kiss / And I’ll go, go with the flow, cause I think I know something they don’t.” With its mellow, alt-pop vibe and lively guitar-driven melody, the song reminds me of some of the music by Duncan Sheik and Blink-182.
Singer/songwriter Shimmer Johnson has the voice of an angel. Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Shimmer started out writing and recording Country songs, but has recently drifted toward a more pop-oriented sound. In addition to playing guitar, she’s also a fairly decent pianist. She writes compelling lyrics that speak to the joys and pain we all experience in life, and sets them to hauntingly beautiful piano-driven melodies. Her clear, pitch-perfect vocals skillfully convey the subtle yet powerful emotions expressed in her heartfelt lyrics, allowing us to connect with her songs on a deeply personal level.
Shimmer has been collaborating with other songwriters, including Michael Jay, John West, Richard Bergman and Relik Gregos, in the creation of her newer songs. She’s recorded five over the past year, in preparation for a new album Pride, scheduled for release in May. One of those songs, released as a single in the summer of 2017, is “Getaway.” Addressing the subject of mental illness, the poignant track offers a positive message of hope and assurance that things will get better.
Everybody needs a little faith, a little love, a little break A private getaway to collect those thoughts inside Everybody needs a getaway sometimes When life is hard and you can’t breathe And you fall to your knees Just remember that everything will be OK When you can’t struggle anymore You’re giving up, you want no more Just remember you can breathe
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 